'Karen thanks me and hangs up. It was so satisfying': Cashier has one-on-one conversation with demanding customer who doesn't recognize her voice

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 12, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

This is one of the reasons why being a manager is an amazing job. 

If you've ever worked retail, you know that dealing with irritating customers is par for the course. As a cashier, you'll spend your whole shift ringing people up, and a percentage of them are going to be crabby. So if you become a manager, you get to avoid the cash register more often than not. Along with a nice raise, it's a satisfying feeling to know that you only have to deal with customers when they're asking for a manager. At that point, the manager gets to be the good guy who solves their problem, or they have to be the bad guy who can't solve that problem and asks them to leave. 

This person, u/PotentialResource, still found herself working the cash register during busy shifts. She was answering the phones, ringing up customers in a single line, and of course, dealing with the cranky, impatient customers who happened to shop that day. At least she got a chance to have a one-on-one chat with one impolite customer who had a problem with her long wait in line. 

Read the full story below. And then, read some infuriating tales of social media influencers, like one woman who "Spent $7 on an ice cream cone for an Instagram picture, then threw it away."

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10387389184
    via Christiann Koepke on Unsplash

    Photo representational only, not of actual story subjects

  • 02
    Karen called the store to complain I was , didn't realize she was talking to me
    via u/PotentialResource
  • 03
    On a particularly busy shift I was running a register to help get the checkout line down. We're a small store so we have customers form one line and we call them over one by one. When the line got down to a reasonable length I finished ringing my customer, flipped my light off and turned to take a phone call that had been holding for me. This lady drops her
    via u/PotentialResource
  • 04
    items on the counter with a huge clatter and I look up at her abruptly. After reigning in my ABF (active face) I apologize and tell her so- and- so can ring you out, this till is closed. She grabs her stuff and starts to huff back, but then drops it back on the. I look over and my main cashier had already started to ring the next person in line. Karen looks at me and says, "So you
    via u/PotentialResource
  • 05
    expect me to wait in line again?" Acting as if it was the most unreasonable thing in the world.At this point I swallow my ire and say "Nope! I'll just ring you our right here." I don't smile or make small talk the entire transaction.
    via u/PotentialResource
  • 06
    And then right before she leaves, she does the thing. That thing only high level Karens do. She pointedly leans in to check my name tag and looks me in the eye. I make every effort to plaster as benign and neutral a look on my face as I can as she leaves. I have no interest in showing fear to an already agitated Karen. Frankly, at this point I don't even care.
    via u/PotentialResource
  • 07
    Now, I have a pretty distinctive voice. It's quite low pitched. However when I'm in happy retail mode, it tends to travel up a half an octave or so. A couple hours after the initial event, my day has turned around and I feel pretty good. The phone rings. The following exchange happens:
    via u/PotentialResource
  • 08
    Me: (cheerily) "Thank you for calling Retail Retail. This is *my name*, how may I help you? Karen: "Can I talk to a manager please?" (at this point I don't recognize Karen) Me: "I'm the manager on duty, how can I help you?"
    via u/PotentialResource
  • 09
    Karen: "Yeah, I'd like to report an incident I had in your store. One of your cashiers was extremely to me." Me: (sincerely concerned something happened) "I'm sorry to hear that! Can you tell me what happened?" Karen: *proceeds to relate story* "...and then she acted like it was a total
    via u/PotentialResource
  • 10
    imposition to help me. I had been waiting in line for 20 mins and she just didn't care. So I ask Karen which register she was at and that's when I realize she is talking about me. I recognize I have a choice; continue to allow her assumption or correct her and deal with the fallout.
    via u/PotentialResource
  • 11
    Me: *sounding stern and appalled while maintaining my higher pitched voice* Really? Well, that's unacceptable. Ma'am, I apologize for that and I will be speaking to her right away.
    via u/PotentialResource
  • 12
    Karen: "It's just- *re- explains scenario and how she finds it just terrible* Me: *indignant* "Oh I understand completely. She and I will sit down and talk about that. I will make sure she understands my expectations." Karen thanks me and hangs up. It was so satisfying somehow. I can't say why.
    via u/PotentialResource

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